And we say that - We are Working Hard...!!!

There are days when I curse my job just because I find it hard to take out time for myself, my family and my home. I also hate to wake up early in the morning and miss preparing the breakfast and lunch for my husband so that I can catch my 7:30 office bus on time. The sudden rush for things in the morning takes away many minute moments of happiness from me like a patiently wishing a sweet and pleasant good morning, watching the golden rays of Sun shining brightly in all its glory, feeling the quietness of the early morning as if its spreading some message across, reading newspaper while having a cup of tea etc. etc. And then I curse more on the fact that I have to travel for almost 1 hour 30 minutes, reach my office, do my work (If I get some!!), again leave from office at 5:30 in the evening and travel back home at 7 PM. Fridays are best for me as I know that weekend has arrived and I spoil my Sunday as I am tensed that Monday is near and the same story has to repeat.

You must be wondering why am I telling you all this as this routine is not something which is applicable only to me. All of us go through this same course life everyday – only exception is that some of us go through few more adventures every day. But what led me to write this post was an e-mail which I received few days back. It promoted to stop Child Labour and I was deeply moved by it as there were certain photographs in the e-mail which made me realize that there are lots of people in this world who have to go through as many hardships as possible every single day just to earn a two times bread for themselves and their family. It’s not that I was not aware of Child Labour before I read the e-mail, but reading it made me look at life from a wider perspective and in a more matured manner. The message spread by the e-mail is self-explanatory from the pictures that I have posted below. But what I have learnt from it is “Life is a blessing for all of us who have a decent job, have a bundle of joyful memories of childhood, a home to stay, a family to love and care for and being loved and cared in return, not only a two-times bread but a grand list of cuisines which includes our own likes and dislikes, all types of electronic gadgets to our feet and almost everything which can make our life as easy as we want”. But “Life may not really be a blessing for the rest who don’t have any fixed income leading them to search for a new job everyday, who may have lost their childhood in ‘Child Labour’ kind of thing or are losing it, neither they may have a home to stay nor they may have a family to love and care for and being loved and cared in return, a very hardly earned bread even for a single-time which also must be replaced by Water at times, electronic gadgets may be a dream for them as hard as its “Going to moon” for us and almost everything which can make their life as hard as it can be. So I have decided that rather than crying on the so-called hardships of my life, I will stay happy and content with whatever I have and feel lucky about it. And most importantly, I will contribute my best to stop child labour in any possible way I can. In fact, I have already initiated it by spreading the message and hope you will also spread the message further.

“If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own . . . how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.” – Willian Allen White

Those Who made our Lives Worthwhile...!!!

Last month, I went to my home to celebrate "Rakshabandhan". I was home after about 7 months, so I didn’t miss any opportunity to enjoy each and every moment to its fullest. I also decided to help my younger brother in his preparation for the upcoming exams. He is in Second standard and hence requires utmost attention in studies. I first started with "English" subject and when I saw the chapter, the first thought that came to my mind was "What’s the big deal in this?" But it was not less than "Burning the midnight oil" when it came to explaining the chapter to him and the worst part was to make him learn the answers for those silly questions. I wonder how my parents would have dealt with me when I was a child! Next day, he came to me with a maths book in his hand and asked me review the numbers from 1 to 1000 which he has written as a part of his homework. I must say that the numbers were correct, but the mess he had created while writing them was horrible. He is too lazy to even use an eraser if something goes wrong, as a result of which he simply overwrites making it difficult for others to read. And then I had to spent another hour in helping him with the corrections. There were lots of such incidents, but what touched me deeply was the fact that I was simply helping him out with his studies, while the people who laid foundations for him were his teachers. I am not really sure about how much efforts teachers put these days on their students, but I remembered my time when my teachers used to teach me how to hold a Pencil in my hand and then slowly helped me writing every letter and number. My teachers were the ones who taught me how to pronounce letters and read words and sentences which slowly became the stepping stone to my success. I am sure; you would also remember your teachers on reading this post and thank them one way or the other for making you what you are today. On this "Teacher’s Day", a special tribute to all the teachers who have lit the candle of light in our lives.

Nothing Can Go Wrong Now...!!!

It was the beginning of monsoon and I was super-excited to enjoy the beauty of nature. The first place that comes to the minds of all Puneites in rainy season is “Sinhgad”. It is a fortress situated on a hill in Sahyadri mountain ranges, located at a distance of around 30 kilometres from Pune. What attracts the most here are the lush green valleys, the small water-falls, the fresh air, clouds covering the entire area and the sudden rains, all of which only add to the beauty and serenity of the nature. So one fine Sunday, I and Yog along with our group of friends decided to hit this place, all of us equally enthusiastic about the short trip, but hardly anyone knew what was coming next.

We left at around 1 PM and the weather seemed a perfect one for the 1-hour drive. We were two couples in the car and two of our other extreme nature-lover friends out of over-excitement decided to ride on a bike and that too without any rainy-coat. Our car halted at a traffic signal when we saw our fuel indicator blinking – “I am running out of Petrol. Please refuel me”. Even after a round of advises given to Yog that he must get the car refueled at the nearby Petrol station, he was over-confident about the fact that the indicator always gives the wrong signals and this time the car would definitely go well for the next 10 kilometres. We accepted this undigestable fact and after travelling for about another 7 kms, our car stopped and that too in the midst of a heavy traffic road and yes, not to miss, in front of the RTO guys waiting to welcome us. Next task was to push the car to the side of the road which was very well performed by Rinku B. (lovingly called by his friends) who had seated himself very comfortably in the backseat of the car. And then Yog took a lift and rushed to a nearby petrol station with an empty bottle in his hand only unaware of the fact that his efforts would soon be wasted. Yes, the petrol station was strictly adhered to its policy of not providing petrol to anyone in bottles or cans. We then called our biker friends who were ahead of us almost 5-6 kms and there was no U-turn in between, however they managed to come back to us after few minutes. Finally, Yog managed to get Petrol from another Petrol station and all of us sighed in relief that “Nothing can go wrong now”. All of us were reset again for the trip now.

It had started raining heavily after sometime, though we realized this only when our biker friends (Henceforth, I will call them as MJ and NS) were seen nowhere. Again, Yog and Rinku B. showed their male intelligence by making a phone call to NS on speaker mode. Though they were a bit expectant of hearing few “beep” words from the other end, we girls were quite oblivious about it. And yes, NS stick true to their expectations leading to roars of laughter amongst us. Both of them were struggling hard to find a shelter amidst the heavy rains, however they reached safely to the place where we were waiting and after gulping cups of tea, everyone was  reset the second time for the fun-filled adventure that was waiting ahead of us. And yes, we again sighed in relief “Nothing can go wrong now”.

We would have hardly covered a distance of 10 Kms when my friend suggested dropping the plan of Sinhgad and rather going to a resort named “Splendour Country” which we hadn’t heard the minute before. And soon, everyone started discussing on how superior is “Splendour Country” than “Singhad” and how “Sinhgad” is the same old story everytime and how everyone would be so tired of trekking over there making it impossible to go office next week. And most unbelievable was the discussion going on about how difficult it is to go “Sinhgad” in rainy season and how heavy rains would leave nothing for us to see over there. Oh common! Now this was the only reason we all had started off for, but optimistic minds anyways – always finding out all the positive points when there is a “Road to be less travelled by”. So finally, we all four decided to go “Splendour Country” (Henceforth, I will refer to it as SC) and again called NS, this time extra care taken not to keep the phone on speaker.

After almost reaching till the entry point for Sinhgad, we were told that we are on the wrong track and have left SC almost 7-8 kms behind. The adventure seemed to be fading by this time for we girls (Yes, I still love to call myself a girl), but the guys were in no mood to back off or choose any other option over SC. Though we asked the local people over there, no one seemed to be aware of the location which led us to doubt on another over-confident friend behind this change of plan, who shouted like “Yes, it’s there. Why don’t u believe me?” Yog and Rinku B. started searching on Google Maps but it was all in vain when soon MJ and NS arrived saying that they have found out the way to SC and we are only supposed to follow them. And all of us sighed in relief for the third time “Nothing can go wrong now”.

As per the information gathered by MJ and NS, our destination was not very far; still we had to travel for about next 15 kilometers before finally reaching SC. The journey was quiet this time as everyone was completely captivated by the surrounding view with hills and rocks on one side and a river on the other. It was complete green everywhere and as it had stopped raining by that time, the cool breeze flew gently refreshing our souls. We finally reached SC, parked our car and saw MJ and NS approaching us, only to inform that their bike was “Punctured”. Now this was the worst anyone would have expected. Added to it was the fact that the garage was 3 Kms down the hill from where we were standing. It was 4 PM already and the resort didn’t accept new customers after 5 PM. After considering all the possibilities, it was decided that we all would go to the garage and if we could not make it before 5 PM, we would return from there itself. The journey to garage was also not that easy as it may seem. Five of us were in the car now and Rinku B. was riding the bike balancing it on front tyre and was completely drenched in the heavy rain. GOD knows what happened to him or his bike in between. We reached farther with no signs of him coming behind us and when we decided to turn back, the PMT bus coming towards made us realize that we had no possibility of turning back on that Single Lane road. So we went further to the garage and waited for Rinku B. to arrive. Not forgetting to mention here, he had handed his cell phone to us, so there was no way to contact him. Everyone was relieved when he came and handed over his bike to the mechanic. Together we sighed in relief for the fourth time “Nothing can go wrong now”.

We reached SC safe and sound before 5 PM, took our entry tickets and rushed to the cafeteria when we were told that snacks are about to finish. We obviously deserved treat to ourselves for making it to SC after all the hurdles. What came next was the most joyous and fun-filled part of our trip. All were crazy about the swimming pool and the indoor games especially the Pool. Though I had never been to a swimming pool earlier, I tried swimming for the first time and kind of liked it a lot. It appeared to me as an “Infinity Pool” though I am not really sure about it. We even sang songs at the Karaoke section, played Pool and Carom a lot. We also tried our hands on Table Tennis, but it appeared more of a badminton so decided to drop it off. Finally we had our dinner at around 10 in the night and we called the day off leaving from there at 10:30 in the night. I was a bit afraid during the journey back home as there were no street lights in that hilly area, it was raining and there was no one else apart from us on that route. But soon we were back in the city and I said to me for the last time - “Nothing can go wrong now”. Amidst all the unending appreciation going on about SC and the second trip back there with more number of friends, we all waved good-byes and good nights to each other. It was a trip which everyone remembers till date and feels happy about it and so it definitely deserved to be a post on my blog.

PFB some of the photos which we had taken at SC: